But Johnson’s only the face of the disaster. And nobody has mentioned Penney’s board of directors.

The real culprit is a guy named William Ackman and the rest of Penney’s board of directors. Ackman manages a hedge-fund that is Penney’s largest shareholder. It was Ackman who led the board to coax Johnson away from Apple.

The board allowed Johnson overnight to change the brand to JCP, change the pricing strategy, change the merchandise, change the advertising, and change the logo. Ackman ran interference for Johnson all the way.

What in the world does a hedge-fund manager know about re-positioning a retail brand? The board allowed all Johnson’s changes system-wide, without even one market test. Johnson’s a smart guy, but after his retail success at Apple, he must have thought he was bullet-proof.

He had some very good ideas, but his execution was horrid. Johnson clearly didn’t understand the Penney’s customer. And his methods and timing foretold disaster.

Why didn’t the board realize that? Because only one of them has retail stores background. Johnson will land on his feet, but the jury’s out on Penney’s future.

If I were a stockholder, I’d be gunning for the entire board.

To reach Mr. Malmo, hear and read more of his commentaries, or to ask him your own marketing question, go to http://askmalmo.com.

A year and a half ago, J.C. Penney's then-brand new CEO Ron Johnson undertook what was supposed to be a transformation of the 110-year-old department store. Yesterday, the retailer cut his tenure short.

J.C. Penney lost nearly $1 billion last year as customer traffic dropped off.

Now, it's bringing back former Chief Executive Officer Myron Ullman to try to stanch the bleeding.

The very best advice about advertising is: if you have something important to say, just say it. If you don't, sing it. So it distresses me when I see advertising that says nothing, for a brand that really has something to say. And in the case of JC Penny, I mean, literally nothing.